A D.C. government official and a business executive were arrested yesterday on bribery charges involving city technology contracts that included "ghost" workers and kickbacks, federal authorities said.

Raiding offices in the hunt for documents, FBI agents carted away boxes and envelopes throughout the day from the Office of the Chief Technology Officer, the center of the alleged fraud.

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Authorities said the conspiracy was uncovered with the help of a D.C. government employee who recorded conversations with the executive and the city official.

Until recently, the technology office was headed by Vivek Kundra, who has taken a job as President Obama's chief information officer. A White House official confirmed last night that Kundra has taken a leave of absence.

Mayor Adrian M. Fenty (D) said he was unaware of the technology office investigation until yesterday's raid and arrests. He said the city will "cooperate fully" with the probe.

Yusuf Acar, 40, who has worked in the technology office since 2004, was charged with bribery, conspiracy, money laundering and conflict of interest. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Hibarger told a federal judge that Acar is a flight risk because agents seized $70,000 in cash in his house and because in recorded conversations, he boasted that he could easily flee to his native Turkey. Acar also told the informant that he could use computers to create fake D.C. birth certificates, Hibarger said.

U.S. Magistrate Judge John M. Facciola ordered the Northwest Washington resident held without bond until a hearing Tuesday.

Until recently, the technology office was headed by Vivek Kundra, who has taken a job as President Obama's chief information officer. A White House official confirmed last night that Kundra has taken a leave of absence.

On September 26, 2008, Acar told the CW [Cooperating Witness] that he had a large sum of money that he wanted to transfer overseas, and asked the CW if he had any overseas contacts who might be able to help him facilitate the transfer. After the CW indicated that he has contacts in Kenya,

Acar suggested that he open a bank account in Kenya using only a small amount of money. Acar stated that he thought he could transfer between $200,000 to $300,000 per month overseas once the account was set up. Acar suggested that he and the CW take a trip to Kenya in mid-October for the sole purpose of opening up this bank account. Acar offered to pay for the entire trip.  During the days that followed, Acar made efforts to secure a Visa for his anticipated trip to Kenya. Subsequently, on October 2, 2008, CW had a conversation with Acar where Acar again discussed taking a trip to Kenya for the purpose of opening up bank accounts.4

 On or about October 9, 2008, Acar indicated to the CW that he was looking to open a bank account in Canada for the purpose of sending money to a bank account in Canada. A review of Acars debits from a Circle Network account he controls indicates that Acar took a plane trip to Canada around this time period.

On or about November 7, 2008, Acar told the CW that he has the technical ability to log into approximately 120 different servers within the D.C. government. These servers include those contained at the Department of Motor Vehicles and at Treasury. In addition, Acar showed CW how he could log on to the server that is responsible for producing birth certificates for the District of Columbia.

Acar told the CW that with a birth certificate and a foreign passport, one could then obtain a social security number (SSN) by saying that they were born in the United States and moved shortly after their birth. Acar further explained that once a SSN is obtained, one can then apply for a passport application. The government is unaware at this time if Acar has

At the direction of the FBI Agents with whom he was working, CW was instructed to tell Acar that he (CW) could not take a trip with him to Kenya at this time. The CW did this, and the trip to Kenya was never taken.

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